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BumRushDaShow

(169,661 posts)
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 05:06 PM Sunday

Looking to limit birthright citizenship, Trump turns to an 1884 Supreme Court ruling against a Native American man

Source: NBC News

March 29, 2026, 5:00 AM EDT / Updated March 29, 2026, 9:15 AM EDT


WASHINGTON — In a moment that could take on new significance almost 150 years later, Omaha election official Charles Wilkins on April 5, 1880, refused to register John Elk to vote on the grounds that he was Native American, and therefore not an American citizen. Elk — believed to have been a member of what is now known as the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska — objected, saying he had severed all ties with his tribe and had willingly subjected himself to the authority of the United States.

He launched a legal challenge, arguing among other things that he was a citizen at birth because he was born within United States territory. But the Supreme Court, in an 1884 case called Elk v. Wilkins, ruled against him, saying that Native Americans born within the territory of the United States did not have birthright citizenship. They had the same status as “the children of subjects of any foreign government born within the domain of that government,” the court said.

President Donald Trump’s administration is now citing that case as it defends his plan to end automatic birthright citizenship, putting a new spin on the long-standing interpretation of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case on Wednesday.

Trump’s executive order, issued on the first day of his second term, seeks to limit birthright citizenship only to people with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident. The order is not in effect; lower courts put it on hold.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/trump-birthright-citizenship-supreme-court-native-american-rcna263223

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Looking to limit birthright citizenship, Trump turns to an 1884 Supreme Court ruling against a Native American man (Original Post) BumRushDaShow Sunday OP
Can't wait to hear the arguments before the court. Fiendish Thingy Sunday #1
With THIS court? bluestarone Sunday #3
My guess, 7-2 against. Nt Fiendish Thingy Sunday #8
I know for sure bluestarone Sunday #10
Wow, had not seen your response but mine was exactly the same..."With this court?" Escurumbele Yesterday #32
Weak sauce. bucolic_frolic Sunday #2
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 nullified Elk v Wilkins Historic NY Sunday #4
Since the SCOTUS doesn't care about "stare decisis" BumRushDaShow Sunday #6
But this isn't stare decicis Fiendish Thingy Sunday #9
Have you forgotten BumRushDaShow Sunday #11
Haven't forgotten at all Fiendish Thingy Sunday #12
"if birthright citizenship is revoked, can the reinstitution of slavery still be off limits?" BumRushDaShow Sunday #13
All the more reason why we must only elect Dem senators willing to kill the filibuster and expand the court Fiendish Thingy Sunday #15
Roe was focused on enforcement of the PRIVATE right for women to choose what to do with her own body BumRushDaShow Yesterday #30
And that horrific ruling will continue to stand Fiendish Thingy Yesterday #36
That was the hope in 2022 BumRushDaShow Yesterday #37
That's because Biden wanted to wait on the report from the bipartisan commission on court reform Fiendish Thingy 23 hrs ago #42
Not exactly. Ms. Toad Sunday #17
Birthright citizenship is also a law LeftInTX Sunday #23
It is the interpretation of the constitution that is at issue. Ms. Toad Sunday #24
I disagree Fiendish Thingy Sunday #25
"If the constitution says two term limit for a president, it doesn't mean three" BumRushDaShow Yesterday #33
But the Constitution doesn't say two terms for a p president. Ms. Toad Yesterday #34
Two means two, not three Fiendish Thingy Yesterday #35
Again, you are reducing a paragraph to a single word. Ms. Toad Yesterday #38
At this time, it's probably a moot point Fiendish Thingy 23 hrs ago #43
Except that the US constitution does NOT Farmer-Rick Yesterday #27
Article III of the constitution and Marbury v. Madison. Ms. Toad Yesterday #39
In that Supreme Court ruling Farmer-Rick Yesterday #41
I'll see Elk v. Wilkins, cloudbase Sunday #5
The funny thing is, Wong Ark was decided in 1898 NickB79 Sunday #18
Trump would have required both parents to be wnylib Sunday #7
Doesn't seem relevant Renew Deal Sunday #14
So at that time territories weren't considered "The US"? Callie1979 Sunday #20
That's the way I'm reading it Renew Deal Sunday #22
I Think They Are Talking About Indian Territories DallasNE Yesterday #28
If thats the story then it would seem to have zero meaning to today's case. Callie1979 Yesterday #31
What total bullshit. Another argument of convenience. Scalded Nun Sunday #16
Sounds like a "3/5ths" argument; seen as lesser individuals. Callie1979 Sunday #19
This case in an interpretation that is consistent with how the provision has always been interpreted. Ms. Toad Sunday #21
I'm not buying that argument Bayard Sunday #26
Call DHS Immediately! Nasruddin Yesterday #29
pedo and his henchmen should move to Tx or Fl and let the rest of us get our country back Marthe48 Yesterday #40

Fiendish Thingy

(23,201 posts)
1. Can't wait to hear the arguments before the court.
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 05:13 PM
Sunday

I wonder how many justices will burst out laughing?

bluestarone

(22,167 posts)
3. With THIS court?
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 05:20 PM
Sunday

I'm thinking only 3 bursting out laughing and maybe 2 more that won't laugh but vote against it. (i hope) This court could be 6-3 decision or even 5-4?

Escurumbele

(4,094 posts)
32. Wow, had not seen your response but mine was exactly the same..."With this court?"
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 07:35 AM
Yesterday

I would have added the word "corrupt"...

I have always been an optimist but, with what has been going on with this administration, the court, I hate that I am becoming a pessimist, I really hate that.

bucolic_frolic

(55,117 posts)
2. Weak sauce.
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 05:18 PM
Sunday

"same status as “the children of subjects of any foreign government born within the domain of that government”"

Says to me if they were born overseas, they are not US citizens. Nothing remarkable there.

Mr. Wilkins it sounds like the Court argued he was not born in a state, or a territory. He was born with loyalty to his tribe. Splitting hairs. By that logic all immigrants would maintain loyalty to the country from whence they came.

Historic NY

(40,033 posts)
4. Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 nullified Elk v Wilkins
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 05:51 PM
Sunday

I Congress passed this act, also known as the Snyder Act, granting full U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States, effectively nullifying the requirement for individual naturalization that was central to Elk v. Wilkins.


https://www.opb.org/article/2025/04/07/trump-administration-attempts-to-use-19th-century-native-american-case-to-overturn-birthright-citizenship/]

Trump has that fuck face Miller working on this bullshit only he would pull this out of his rectum

BumRushDaShow

(169,661 posts)
6. Since the SCOTUS doesn't care about "stare decisis"
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 06:16 PM
Sunday

(unless it benefits RW loons), then 45 is gonna roll the dice.

Fiendish Thingy

(23,201 posts)
9. But this isn't stare decicis
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 07:42 PM
Sunday

This is black letter constitutional law.

Overturning birthright citizenship would be rewriting the constitution, not just reinterpreting it.

BumRushDaShow

(169,661 posts)
11. Have you forgotten
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 07:56 PM
Sunday
Dred Scott v. Sandford or Plessy v Ferguson and then Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka?

The SCOTUS can "interpret" or "reinterpret" any damn thing they want and who it applies to. Those of us whose families have been here for many generations, have watched it happen.

Fiendish Thingy

(23,201 posts)
12. Haven't forgotten at all
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 08:03 PM
Sunday

Overturning birthright citizenship would be as historic and significant as Dred or Plessy, or maybe more so, because if birthright citizenship is revoked, can the reinstitution of slavery still be off limits?

That’s why they won’t touch it.

They would be signing the death warrants for their careers- the people would demand the court be expanded to reinstate their rights and overturn all the extremist rulings of the past 20 years.

BumRushDaShow

(169,661 posts)
13. "if birthright citizenship is revoked, can the reinstitution of slavery still be off limits?"
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 08:18 PM
Sunday

THAT is the problem we are facing.

No one thought they would "touch" Roe. No one thought they would touch the VRA (even with FOUR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS DEALING WITH VOTING). Next target is the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It's all up to those 6 fiends.

Fiendish Thingy

(23,201 posts)
15. All the more reason why we must only elect Dem senators willing to kill the filibuster and expand the court
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 08:42 PM
Sunday

BTW, Roe was an “implied” right, not black letter law like birthright citizenship- something that could be solved by 1) codifying reproductive rights in law, and 2) expanding the court to a majority who will uphold it.

BumRushDaShow

(169,661 posts)
30. Roe was focused on enforcement of the PRIVATE right for women to choose what to do with her own body
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 05:27 AM
Yesterday
Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment


14th Amendment

Section 1.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

(snip)

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv



A man - John Roberts - deemed that nether the 4th nor 14th Amendments, apply to women.

Fiendish Thingy

(23,201 posts)
36. And that horrific ruling will continue to stand
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 09:58 AM
Yesterday

Until we elect legislators and a president willing to kill the filibuster and expand the court, neutralizing the MAGA majority so that Dobbs can be reversed, and congress can pass laws codifying Roe nationwide.

BumRushDaShow

(169,661 posts)
37. That was the hope in 2022
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 10:52 AM
Yesterday

and believe it or not, that is primarily what Fetterman ran on - "being the 51st vote" in the Senate to kill the filibuster and codify Roe.

At the time after the 2020 election, the Senate was tied 50 (R)s - 50 (48 (D)s + 2 (I)s) and (D)s forced control of it based on our having the White House (and a VP who would be the tie-breaker to gain control of the Committee Chairs).

In 2022. we got to 51 (49 (D)s + 2(I)s).

But even with that, it didn't happen.

Fiendish Thingy

(23,201 posts)
42. That's because Biden wanted to wait on the report from the bipartisan commission on court reform
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 12:40 PM
23 hrs ago

Which ended up saying a whole lot of nothing.

IMO that was the second biggest mistake of his otherwise very progressive administration.

Ms. Toad

(38,631 posts)
17. Not exactly.
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 09:33 PM
Sunday

The Snyder Act was a law, not a part of the constitution. So it's not stare decisis. Stare decisis is a doctrine urging the Supreme Court to be cautious in overruling its own prior decisions.

And there is no such thing as black letter constitutional law. Everything in the constitution says is always up to interpretation by the Supreme Court.

LeftInTX

(34,253 posts)
23. Birthright citizenship is also a law
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 10:09 PM
Sunday

And it has been implemented since 1940 as such.

Hence the intent of Congress was to grant US citizenship to all those born in the US. And this was congress's interpretation of "jurisdiction of"

I know that SCOTUS has overturned laws before, but this is a huge one because decades of bureaucracy have been involved with it. So, it wasn't just a Supreme Court decision, it was a law that was passed afterward.

https://today.westlaw.com/Document/I6f209445294e11f18650b90c05b8b24a/View/FullText.html?transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true

It does not appear that Trump is trying to overturn the law. He's just trying to get them to reinterpret Wong. I don't think he knew about this law.



Ms. Toad

(38,631 posts)
24. It is the interpretation of the constitution that is at issue.
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 10:29 PM
Sunday

The constitution always prevails over laws - AND - it is always up to the Supreme Court to interpret the constitution. There is no such thing as black letter law when it comes to the interpretation of the constitution. If the Supreme Court determines that Trump's interpretation of birthright citizenship is correct, any law which contradicts it is unconstitutional.

Do I think it will interpret it as Trump suggests? No. My comments go to your assertions which seem to suggest that you believe the Supreme Court cannot interpret a provision of the constitution in a way which differs from how it has always been applied because it is "black letter law." Or that somehow a law passed by Congress is more controlling than the Constitution, or would prevent the Supreme Court from interpreting the provision in a way that is contrary to Congress' intent.

Fiendish Thingy

(23,201 posts)
25. I disagree
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 10:59 PM
Sunday

If the constitution says two term limit for a president, it doesn’t mean three.

Words like “infringe” can be interpreted differently, but numbers, ages, and place of birth cannot.

BumRushDaShow

(169,661 posts)
33. "If the constitution says two term limit for a president, it doesn't mean three"
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 08:47 AM
Yesterday

But for those who argue "liiteralism" vs "wiggle room", they might say (which 45's loons have) that it doesn't say anything about more than 2 "non-consecutive terms" being forbidden, thus making it an implicit option.

The original intent was to avoid what happened with FDR, who was elected for 4 terms (3 full, and the 4th ending up a part term when he died in office). Grover Cleveland was the only other President to serve 2 terms non-consecutively (and he was around before FDR) before 45.

This is the kind of hairs that are being split nowadays.

Ms. Toad

(38,631 posts)
34. But the Constitution doesn't say two terms for a p president.
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 08:56 AM
Yesterday

It says:

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.


Plenty to be interpreted there.

And regardless of whether you disagree with me, that's how our judicial system works.

Ms. Toad

(38,631 posts)
38. Again, you are reducing a paragraph to a single word.
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 11:24 AM
Yesterday

The Supreme Court will interpret not just the word two - but all of the surrounding words.

And even just taking the words literally, two can mean more than two.

Fiendish Thingy

(23,201 posts)
43. At this time, it's probably a moot point
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 12:43 PM
23 hrs ago

As I don’t think Trump is going take the issue to court (actually 51 courts) to try and get on the ballot in 2028, and the Republican Party would implode if he did, as dozens are waiting in the wings for their shot.

Farmer-Rick

(12,660 posts)
27. Except that the US constitution does NOT
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 12:26 AM
Yesterday

Give them that authority.

It doesn't give the Supremes the authority to interpret what the US constitution says. They grabbed up that power to make themselves little dictators.

Ms. Toad

(38,631 posts)
39. Article III of the constitution and Marbury v. Madison.
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 11:36 AM
Yesterday

Not everything is derived directly from the Constitution. Judicial review is granted to the judicial branch in the Constitution. Marbury v. Madison was the (judicial) case that resolved the lingering question of whether that included determining that the legislative branch created a law that violated the Constitution.

Farmer-Rick

(12,660 posts)
41. In that Supreme Court ruling
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 11:54 AM
Yesterday

The Supreme Court gave itself the power to review the constitutionality of government actions.

No where in the constitution does it give that power to the Supremes. Our founding fathers were well aware of the concept of judicial review. Only some of them wanted to give that power to the Supremes. Note they didn't give it to the Supremes, the Supremes gave it to themselves.

NickB79

(20,353 posts)
18. The funny thing is, Wong Ark was decided in 1898
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 09:43 PM
Sunday

Only 14 yr after US v Elk. The justices were intimately aware of what was argued in Elk, and still ruled for Wong Ark. That alone should say quite a bit.

wnylib

(26,004 posts)
7. Trump would have required both parents to be
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 07:39 PM
Sunday

US citizens if it weren't for the fact that his mother was an immigrant and so are/were 2 of the mothers of his children.

Renew Deal

(85,141 posts)
14. Doesn't seem relevant
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 08:29 PM
Sunday

This guy was born in a territory. The people Trump is looking to exclude are/would be born in the US.

Callie1979

(1,350 posts)
20. So at that time territories weren't considered "The US"?
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 09:46 PM
Sunday

Or is that what this decision ended up meaning?

Renew Deal

(85,141 posts)
22. That's the way I'm reading it
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 09:53 PM
Sunday

But I haven't spent time on how they got from that, to people in Puerto Rico being citizens, to today. The current case seems completely different because the people involved were born in a US state.

DallasNE

(8,007 posts)
28. I Think They Are Talking About Indian Territories
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 12:44 AM
Yesterday

Kind of like a nation inside of a nation. That is a whole different set of laws.I don't see how it is a fit.

Section 1 of the 14th Amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Obviously, they are trying to get around the word "all", and that includes applying cases that are dubious, at best.

Callie1979

(1,350 posts)
31. If thats the story then it would seem to have zero meaning to today's case.
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 06:25 AM
Yesterday

The people referred to NOW are born in one of the States, I guess this guy was born in a territory and NOT a State.

Scalded Nun

(1,691 posts)
16. What total bullshit. Another argument of convenience.
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 09:04 PM
Sunday

The treatment of Native Americans by the US government (and to be truthful a huge segment of its population) has been forever disgraceful. This appears to be another case of a convenience to get what they want.

The argument "the children of subjects of any foreign government born within the domain of that government" cannot be used as the tribal lands have always been within the domain of the US government. You cannot have it both ways. One one hand saying their land is sovereign and on the other hand move tribes and/or take whatever land the government wants for whatever reason the government has. Many times at the behest of corporations who want that land for various (many times deceitful/nefarious) reasons.

And legally...
If those fucking, disgusting, treasonous idiots in the White house want to refer back to 1884, they need go no further than to The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. Any rationale relying on the 1884 SCOTUS ruling was nullified by that Act.

They may very well be counting on Alito to pull another 400 year-old reference out of his ass to save them. Pardon the exaggeration on the 400 years.

Ms. Toad

(38,631 posts)
21. This case in an interpretation that is consistent with how the provision has always been interpreted.
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 09:52 PM
Sunday
Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States, members of and owing immediate allegiance to one of the Indiana tribes (an alien though dependent power), although in a geographical sense born in the United States, are no more "born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," within the meaning of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment, than the children of subjects of any foreign government born within the domain of that government, or the children born within the United States of ambassadors or other public ministers of foreign nations.


In other words, tribal nations are foreign governments. Prior to the Snyder Act, the nation's territory was a domain of that (foreign) government.

This case doesn't help them.

Bayard

(29,662 posts)
26. I'm not buying that argument
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 11:21 PM
Sunday

"Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution states that "Congress shall have the power to regulate Commerce with foreign nations and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes",[8] determining that Indian tribes were separate from the federal government, the states, and foreign nations."

The various tribes are sovereign nations within the U.S., but the government is required to protect them.

Nasruddin

(1,257 posts)
29. Call DHS Immediately!
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 02:36 AM
Yesterday

If this tactic is successful, would it mean that we have a non-citizen Secretary of DHS?

I would expect the Secretary to get on this problem right away, and report back his findings.
As soon as he's released from custody - presumably he's also been voting in our elections, so one would expect a trial.

Marthe48

(23,170 posts)
40. pedo and his henchmen should move to Tx or Fl and let the rest of us get our country back
Mon Mar 30, 2026, 11:49 AM
Yesterday

How much longer will this nightmare last?

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